Home » United Kingdom » Exciting Sailing Weekend In Brittany

Email from Linda Thalman, via the Internet: Monday, 22. March 1999:-

Exciting Sailing Weekend In Brittany

LindaThalm
2005-12-02 17:23:02

Displayed times (last time: )

en train de sinké' and 'Secours, je ne sais pas nager!' This last can also be used in swimming pools.

Now, to the actual regatta: Saturday afternoon our boat went up and down, left and right - starboard and port for the purists - and I don't know where else, because I was hiding on the steps conveniently placed in the middle of the boat leading to the galley. Sunday was a full day of joy, tacking and jibbing and porting and starboarding around the lovely island of Groix.

Somehow we finally made it back to the harbor in Lorient to bask in the glory of coming in fifth. Even though the wind was still blowing 30 kilometers an hour in the harbor - we were finally calmly moored - I thought it was 'parked' - and devouring paté, smoked salmon, sardines, baguette and a bottle of 110-franc red wine - the guys in charge of the shopping were top-notch!

This is when we heard a high-pierced scream that translated approximately as: "Sweetie, I think we are going to ram this boat!" And bingo! Madame et Monsieur Dupont and their sailing machine knocked our 'Imagine' - the name of our cute little sloop - for a loop.

Well, this event promptly made us forget crewmember Emmaline who was being totally drowned by a wave as she hung on to the edge of the boat for dear life - the cords that mysteriously kept getting stuck - the boom that flimmed and flammed from port to starboard before the skipper said they should - the motor that didn't seem to work in reverse and the pontoon we stormed intophoto: the sea somewhere while leaving the quaint harbor on the Ile de Groix with only 457 people watching.
While this water is about the same color, you can tell it is the deep sea because of the big rock sticking out of it.

It made us also forget the hour or so that three brave guys spent in 15 degree water untying the rope around our motor blades, and nearly all the rest of the joys of sailing.

Finally, about our return TGV trip to Paris, I'll give you Tip Eight: Be sure and get to the food-bar car early, even if you are not hungry or thirsty. They tend to run totally out of liquid refreshment very quickly when there are happy - but totally scared out of their wits - sailors returning from two-day regattas in Brittany.

This exclusive report is from Linda Thalman, who is eternally grateful to be back on dry land and, and in all seriousness, was saddened to learn that Eric Tabarly had died at sea.

Editor's Note: The promised photos meant to accompany this first-hand report seem to have been soaked to death in brine, so readers are invited to imagine some of the scenes of fear and terror, as experienced by our brave reporter, and add a bit of salt to them.